KISS Darien, NY 8/13/2010

[rtbuck]

Kiss
Date: 9/13/2010
Venue: Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
Location: Darien, NY
Review by Bucky

2009 was an outstanding year for Kiss as not only did they celebrate the 35th anniversary of ‘Kiss Alive’ & embark on a new tour titled ‘Alive 35’ but the band also released a brand new studio album titled ‘Sonic Boom’ along with a whole slew of new merchandise including trading cards, blankets, & even Kiss Mr. Potato Head dolls. The Kiss machine rolled strong into 2010 finishing their tour & then Kiss began a 35 date tour of Europe which was called “Sonic Boom Over Europe”. In July of 2010 Kiss was back in North America with a brand new tour titled “The Hottest Show on Earth”.

The show came to the Buffalo, NY area at Darien, NY at the 6 Flags Amusement Park. I immediately had a flashback of Kiss Meets the Phantom while walking through the parking lot to the Amphitheater Entrance & seeing the Ferris Wheel, Rollercoaster, & of course the fans of many ages sporting the make-up of their favorite Kiss member as Kiss music blared out of cars in the parking lot creating a cool background soundtrack to the movie-like atmosphere.

Opening the show were 3 bands Dodriver, Envy, & The Academy Is. Dodriver was the only band of the three that left any kind of impact on me. The Academy Is musically was not horrible & they performed a decent modern cover of Sweet’s “Fox on the Run” but the lead singer was awful both vocally & stage presence wise.

30 minutes after The Academy Is finished their set, a few classic rock songs such as “Ramble On”, “Purple Haze”, & “My Generation” were played through the PA & the packed venue sang along with these classics. A huge black curtain covered the entire stage & as the crowd was stuttering along with Roger Daltry on “My Generation” another curtain with the famous Kiss logo unfurled at the top of the black curtain & the music stopped. There were 3 big screens (one above the stage & one on each side of the stage) & Gene Simmons boot appeared on the screens followed by Paul’s boot. Soon the entire band (Paul, Gene, Eric Singer, & Tommy Thayer) appeared “Larger Than Life” on the Screens as they walked through a city towering over the buildings. This led to them being shown backstage walking to the stage.

“Alright Darien Lake!!! You wanted the best & You got the best…The hottest band in the world…KISSSS!!!! Pyro filled the air & drummer Eric Singer appeared pounding away on his drum kit on his drum riser. Paul, Gene, & Tommy came up from behind the drum riser floating on a platform. The platform hovered over the drum riser & landed at the front of the stage as if it was a spacecraft. The band opened with the single from the ‘Sonic Boom’ album “Modern Day Delilah”. Paul talked about how it rained the last time they played there (which was 2004 w/ Poison opening) & they still kicked ass. He then said they were going to play a song from their debut album & the first album’s cover appeared on the big screens & the band launched into “Cold Gin”. At one point during the song Paul layed on his side & began doing sideways push-ups while playing guitar. Without saying a word Paul showed great crowd control as he motioned with his arms to different sections to get them to yell. The band then went into a great rocking version of “Let Me Go Rock & Roll” featuring some outstanding guitar work by Tommy similar to the version on ‘Kiss Alive’. Up next it was time to call out the “Firehouse” as the band launched into the 1974 classic complete with Gene Simmons spewing flames from his mouth. One of the great things about a Kiss concert is that the fans become an important part of the whole show & at times with all the interaction with the group the fans actually become part of the band as they did when Paul Stanley had them join in & sing along the chorus “Yeah Yeah Yeah” during “Say Yeah” from the ‘Sonic Boom’ album. For the third time of the evening Kiss went back to their debut album, this time they performed an outstanding rendition of “Deuce”. Paul said that this wasn’t just going to be a rock & roll night & the band went back to play the title track from 1988’s ‘Crazy Nights’ album which was a pleasant surprise. Up next was their hit single from their ‘Rock & Roll Over’ album “Calling Dr. Love” which was followed by Paul Stanley turning the microphone over to lead guitarist Tommy Thayer to sing “Shock Me” from 1977’s ‘Love Gun’ album. At the conclusion of the song an instrumental jam between Thayer & drummer Eric Singer took place with Thayer playing some pretty wild lead guitar including a quick little riff from Zep’s “Black Dog”. The jam session led to a spotlight solo from each of the 2 members which included Thayer shooting rockets out of his guitar & Singer pulling out a bazooka & shooting out a spotlight. Stanley & Simmons returned to the stage & the band played “I’m an Animal” from ‘Sonic Boom’ featuring Simmons on lead vocals & at one point a close-up of Simmons singing was on the big screen & he looked as if he was possessed. Paul sang the first verse of “100,000 Years” by himself & then the band tore into the classic from their first album (the 4th song of the night from their debut) with Paul having a great interaction with the crowd having them shout & clap their hands. Dry ice covered the stage & distorted notes from Gene’s Bass rang through the venue. Simmons walked to the center of the stage with blood trickling from his mouth which led to him shaking his head spewing blood all over his face & costume. He then flew to a platform at the top of the lighting rig where he sang “I Love it Loud” from ‘Creatures of the Night’. Stanley once again sang acapella , this time it was the first verse to “Love Gun” before the band launched into the classic track from ’77. Paul began playing the intro to “Black Diamond” on guitar, then stopped playing it, & went into Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” singing the first verse before the rest of the band stepped back onstage to play “Black Diamond” (the 5th song from the debut!). Thayer’s solo near the end of the song sounded incredible. The band then played the opening track from 1976’s ‘Destroyer’ album “Detroit Rock City” which was full of plenty of energy & pyro before leaving the stage.

The band returned to the stage & Stanley told the crowd that they weren’t going to play a song, leave the stage, & come back out. Paul said they were going to play one long encore which they did. I was surprised as Eric Singer went to the center of the stage & the other 3 members huddled around him with their instruments & played their Grammy award winning hit from 1976 “Beth” with Singer singing lead. Afterwards Stanley told the crowd that one dollar from every ticket sold on this tour would go towards the Wounded Warriors Fund which so far including this show totaled out to $122,891.00. He then led the crowd in reciting our nation’s “Pledge of Allegiance”. Kiss then played the title track from their “Lick it Up” album which included part of the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” during the middle instrumental section of the song. The band went right into “Shout it out Loud” which had the crowd singing along. Paul Stanley flew above the crowd to a platform at the back of the venue & sang “I Was Made for Loving You” from their 1979 ‘Dynasty’ album before finishing up the night with “God Gave Rock & Roll to You”(which they featured photos of the late Eric Carr on the screens) & the rock & roll national anthem “Rock & Roll All Nite” which featured confetti pouring out for the entire song & the evening ended with Paul Stanley smashing his guitar.

This was an unbelievable show & was probably the wildest I’ve ever seen a crowd out of the 11 times I’ve seen Kiss in concert. The crowd remained on their feet singing along with every song for the entire evening.


Bucky

[METALPRIEST]

Great review bucky!!!! Looked like a blast!! They ALWAYS deliver!

[That 70s Guy]

Awesome review man!!

[Spankymadoo]

Bucky - great review pretty much spot on. I won't add much but I would like to add that on this night I thought Gene was at the very top of his game. He was menacing and, with the onstage fan blowing his hair around, he looked much like the Gene of old. Paul's voice was a little spotty (Say Yeah seemed pariticularly rough for him) but it did not detract from the experience. Tommy Thayer takes way too much crap from the Ace lovers out there. While he does not play with the same feel as Ace, he does a great job and is more than qualified to do the job of the "Spaceman". His solos are almost spot on and he adds a little of his own style to the mix. Eric Singer is rock solid on the drums and his vocals add a lot to the sound of KISS.
Other than not playing God Of Thunder, I thought the setlist was incredible, although looking back, am kind of amazed that Calling Dr. Love is the only song played from Rock and Roll Over. Could have thrown in I Want You or Makin Love, but overall I liked it.
I know this is not the originals but if you haven't seen KISS this time around, what are you waiting for. Get there. You won't be disappointed!!!

[tomcat]

Great review. I really should make an effort to see KISS (with their make up this time).

[Fever]

I will be seeing Kiss on Aug.29 and hopefully missing The Envy and The Academy Is.

[Spankymadoo]

Originally Posted by Fever I will be seeing Kiss on Aug.29 and hopefully missing The Envy and The Academy Is.

Fever - Kiss hit the stage about 8:55 when they played Darien Lake. Seriously, if you don't get there till 8:30, you won't be missing anything. These may have been the worst opening bands I've ever seen at a KISS concert.

[rtbuck]

Originally Posted by Spankymadoo Fever - Kiss hit the stage about 8:55 when they played Darien Lake. Seriously, if you don't get there till 8:30, you won't be missing anything. These may have been the worst opening bands I've ever seen at a KISS concert.

Total agreement there Spanky! I can understand Kiss wanting a Younger band on the bill for the younger crowd but why noy go for someone like Black Tide who are young but still have hard rock/ metal sound? There are many younger bands that Kiss could've used. These 2 were pure...crap